Living the Life

Living the Life

Not all that long ago, the thought of working with a personal trainer terrified me. I always considered personal trainers to be people who have been fit all their lives and I was embarrassed by my less-than-fit condition. I remember working out at a 24 Hour Fitness in the Bay Area and seeing someone working with a personal trainer. I thought, That would be so awkward. I would feel so weird having someone hovering over me like that.

For the most part, that’s still the case – I don’t like people paying attention to me when I exercise. (Surely, this is something I will need to get over.) But what I’ve realized since then is that though I’m sure there are many personal trainers who have been fit and active all their lives, I’m confident that there are personal trainers who are a lot like me – people who were once unfit and have since found a passion for fitness and a drive to help others feel the same success they themselves have felt.

The ability to empathize with my clients will be huge. Realistically, I don’t see myself working as much with competitive athletes. It’s not that I never would, it’s that I see myself working with people who are trying to develop fit habits and a healthy lifestyle. That’s the personal experience I have and that’s the background I can better relate to. And as I go through my own fitness journey, I think about how I would work with a client who is like me.

Right now, that means coming up with ways to keep clients motivated once they complete a goal. I’ve recently finished my morning workout program (Yay! Go me!), which was 12 weeks of combination cardio and strength training routines. I feel amazing have committed to morning workouts again.

As the program wound down, I thought more and more about what would come next. I thought I had it figured out. And then I tried it.

I hated it.

So now, I’m in this gray area of dwindling motivation, no program to keep me committed, but wanting to remain successful and make progress toward my goals. To do that, I’m thinking of myself as if I were a client. Here’s the plan:

Establish a long-term goal and about three short-term goals that will help me get there.

Create a workout program designed to help me achieve my goals.

Determine how I’m going to track my progress and success.

Schedule my “me” time.

Choose my incentives and how I’ll hold myself accountable.

There’s a lot on my plate between getting started as a personal trainer and keeping up with my own fitness routine. But I’m determined to make it work.